LINZ NETZ extends its smart meter deployment with NES, strengthening the security of their deployment to meet Austria’s leading regulatory requirements.

San Jose, CA, June 17, 2019: Networked Energy Services Corporation (NES), a global smart grid solution provider with the industry’s leading Energy Applications Platform (EAPTM), announced today that LINZ NETZ has selected NES to provide its next expansion of smart meter infrastructure. The order is for over 80,000 single and poly-phase smart meters and supporting communications infrastructure and software, with an optional extension of 60,000 meters, to be delivered over 4 years.

Part of the decision to select NES was its history of successful deployment of meters into LINZ NETZ; providing reliable smart meters to its consumers and achieving high communications SLAs using the OSGP standard for PLC communications. This means that LINZ NETZ can automatically gather metering information, update meter configuration and firmware, and monitor power quality parameters with confidence, over the wire, and without having to purchase separate communications services.

The other important aspect was NES’ reputation and focus on security. The OSGP standard, which NES utilizes, provides an industry leading security solution, including AES 128 encryption and in-built mechanisms to detect threats, attacks and intrusion. The Association of Austrian Electricity Companies, Oesterreichs Energie, places the protection offered to consumers and the energy supply they receive and rely on as a top priority. As a foremost provider of a secure AMI solutions, NES was a clear leader as the partner for LINZ NETZ and its extension AMI project. Through collaboration with LINZ NETZ, NES will deploy its security solution which includes end-to-end encryption, role-based access controls, signed firmware and software and extended audit and logging. Another feature, firmware separation, stream-lines the certification process, providing greater flexibility and future-proofing to meet new security requirements on existing infrastructure.

The inclusion of wireless M-Bus in the NES meters, another technology innovation, means that NES meters can be used to connect to in-home displays presenting consumers with energy consumption information, read metering information from other utility meters and forms the basis for future-proof communication solution with other smart home devices.

Finally, the NES solution offers backwards compatibility so that all the generations of meters deployed for LINZ NETZ can be managed through the same monitoring and management solution – a feature which removes any disruption through the introduction of the latest generation of meters.

NES is delivering this solution in conjunction with S&T, a long-established member of the Austrian energy market, an experienced value-added reseller of NES technology and an existing supplier to LINZ NETZ. S&T will be responsible for the deployment of the NES solution and for introducing back-end security solutions for the increased protection of LINZ NETZ consumers.

“LINZ NETZ is very pleased to be working with NES on this extension project” said Jörg Mittendorfer, LINZ NETZ CEO. “We recognize NES as being a key technology collaborator in our smart energy ecosystem and as helping us achieve a position of market leadership in Austria. Over the years, we have been impressed with the reliability of the meters, security and communications; all of which are central to the success of our smart grid and provide us with a future-proofed technology solution.”

“This project demonstrates NES’s commitment to provide an industry leading security solution”, says David Thomson, NES CEO. “The Austrian market is implementing smart meter security that will make its consumers amongst the most protected in the world. We are proud that NES technology, and the OSGP standard which it implements, has been selected by LINZ NETZ to achieve the high-standards set by the Austrian market for consumer protection against cyber-attack.”

About Networked Energy Services Corporation (NES)
Networked Energy Services Corporation is a global smart energy leader in the worldwide transformation of the electricity grid into an energy control network, enabling utilities to provide their customers with a more efficient and reliable service, to protect their systems from current and emerging cybersecurity threats, and to offer innovative new services that enable active, intelligent use of energy. NES was formed as a result of the spinoff of Echelon Corporation’s Grid Modernization Division in October 2014. NES is headquartered in the US with R&D centers located in Silicon Valley, North Dakota and Poland, and sales offices throughout the world. NES’ smart grid technology is used in nearly 40 million smart meters and other smart end devices around the world. NES is a member of the OSGP Alliance, a global association of utilities and smart grid companies, which promotes the Open Smart Grid Protocol and cooperates to provide utilities greater value by enabling true, independently-certified, multi-vendor interoperability based upon open international specifications and standards. You can find out more information about NES, its Patagonia Energy Applications PlatformTM (including grid management software, distributed control nodes, and smart meters) and services at: www.networkedenergy.com.

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